Anthony Beauvillier was the overtime hero for the New York Islanders on Wednesday night and the Nassau Coliseum faithful made sure to show their appreciation.
Beauvillier buried the winner 1:08 into the extra frame, forcing the semifinal against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to a decisive Game 7 with a 3-2 victory.
For their efforts, Beauvillier and the Islanders were showered with beer cans, while the team saluted a rocking home crowd for what may be the final time this season.
“Going into OT, the building smelled like cigarettes, now it smells like beers,” Beauvillier told reporters after the game.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and at the risk of sounding like a narc: how the hell did the Islanders fans manage to smoke cigarettes indoors in 2021?
Here’s a closer look at the aftermath:
Mathew Barzal had a slightly more nuanced take.
“Never seen that. A little dangerous, but we’ll go with it,” Barzal said of the beer shower, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple.
This may be the final game at Nassau Coliseum, although this notion has become a running joke, as the prehistoric arena has long been overdue for an upgrade. UBS Arena, located in Belmont, New York, is scheduled to be ready for the 2021-22 season after breaking ground in September 2019.
If this is the final hurrah for Nassau Coliseum, well, we don’t endorse anything that could cause harm for any players, to be absolutely clear, but it may be a fitting end to an often-maligned venue which has been operating since the late 1960s.
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